"Days of Our Lives" is
famous for its annual hanging of the Horton ornaments at the Horton
House house each year. However, another long tradition in Salem is the
reading of the Christmas Story to the sick children at University Hospital each
year. The children are played by real-life children of the cast and crew. Here's
a look back at who has read the story since 1983:

"Days of Our Lives" celebrates Christmas each
year with the long-standing tradition of the hanging of the Horton Christmas
ornaments on the tree at Alice's house. It was
stated in 1966 that Grandma Horton (Tom's mother) made the original seven
ornaments (Tom, Alice, Mickey, Bill, Addie, Marie, Tommy). Those seven ornaments
made their first appearance in 1966, and were seen on the tree from
1967-1970. In 1971, the Horton ornament ceremony first aired. That
year, Alice began making ornaments for the rest of the family, and for
the first time, we saw the Horton family place the ornaments on the tree.
Information for the years of 1972-1982 is not yet fully available, so this page
deals with the Horton Ornament ceremonies held since 1983. Since that
year, 79 characters have been seen at the annual ceremony: 38 Horton family
members (which includes the quick marriages of Lucas
to Nicole; Jennifer to Peter; and Mickey to Bonnie) as well as 41 guests
(only Abe, Belle, Billie, Chase, Chloe, Emilio,
Gabi, John, Marlena, Sami, Theo and Victor have attended more than once as
a guest). The least amount of people to ever attend was 5 in 1983 and 2010. The most amount of people to ever attend was 21 in
2004. 37 characters (including two
erroneously given to Carrie and Stephanie, see notes
below) have received a Horton ornament on the tree since 1983, and a total
of 63 characters have had an ornament through the years.

*With the divorces of Trish, Peter, Nicole, Bonnie and Chloe,
these five ornaments have been retired. Faith's also has been retired (she had
yet to marry Scott by the time they left Salem
in 1990)

**Carrie's & Stephanie's ornaments have never been
explained. It was never stated that Mike married Carrie, but her ornament was
introduced after both had left the show in 1999. It
was seen as recently as 2005 in the ornament box, right next to Mike's, and has
been retired since then. Stephanie was engaged to
Nathan, but never married him, yet her ornament showed up in 2013, long after
both had left Salem.

In 2001, "Days" aired a
special Christmas episode. As part of the episode, ten special ornaments were
hung to honor the memory of the many lives lost on 9/11. The ten ornaments shown
were: FDNY, NYPD, EMT, Father Mychal Judge, Larry Virgilio, Joe Sacerdote, Susan
Pollio, Sal Zisa, Steve Schlag, and a picture of the American flag. Here are
links to tributes from CNN.com: Father Mychal Judge, Susan Pollio, Joseph Sacerdote, Steven Schlag, Lawrence Virgilio, Salvatore Zisa.

1983: An undercover Roman, as Santa Claus, sneaks into a
comatose Carrie's room and reads her the Christmas story, helping her to wake
up...Liz sings many songs: "The Christmas Song", "White Christmas", "Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Jingle Bells", and "Deck the Halls."

1984:
On the Christmas Eve episode, the cast sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem" as a
Christmas wreath is featured over the "Days" credits. On the Christmas Day
episode, the Hortons sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "Deck the Halls",
"Silent Night" and "Joy to the World." At the end of the episode, the rest of
the cast featured in the episode (Andrea Barber/Carrie, Jolina Collins/Jasmine,
John deLancie/Eugene, Leann Hunley/Anna, Thaao Penghlis/Tony, Arleen
Sorkin/Calliope, and Herschel the dog) arrive at the Hortons as the cast wishes
everyone a Merry Christmas. Macdonald Carey and Frances Reid address the
audience directly, and look straight into the camera as they say "Merry
Christmas, to each and every one of you."

1985: Liz plays the piano and sings "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas", "Jingle Bells", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas"...The
cast sings "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Joy
to the World."

1986: The only "unnamed"
ornament ever appears on the tree. Alice gives Bo and Hope an ornament which
says "Baby." It's for the yet-to-be-born (and
yet-to-be-named) Shawn Douglas...The cast sings "Angels We Have Heard on High"
and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

1989: Emilio sings "Jingle Bell
Rock" to the kids at the hospital...An instrumental version of "Silent Night"
plays as many Salemites are featured in the final
act.

1990: Mickey, Maggie, Julie,
Jennifer, Sarah and Melissa present a very special version of Tom and Alice's
song "Always"...The Bradys sing "Silent
Night"..."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" plays over the final act as
various Salemites are seen.

1991: The Bradys sing all 3
verses of "Silent Night"...Charlayne Woodard (as Desiree McCall) sings a
wonderful a capella version of "O Holy Night"...Alice
and Tom end the show by wishing each other Merry
Christmas.

1992: The Bradys sing "Silent
Night"...Jack quips to his mother, Jo: "Apparently if you get your name on a
ball, you're in for life"...Joy Garrett (as Jo)
hangs Abigail's new ornament (she dies 7 weeks after the episode
aired)

1993: The Bradys sing "Joy to
the World"...Lisa Rinna (as Billie) sings a chilling version of "Oh Holy Night"
at St. Luke's (just as a kidnapped baby Belle is
reunited with mom Marlena)...Tom and Alice read the Christmas story together to
the hospital kids (Macdonald Carey dies less than 3
months later)...for the only time ever, a "Merry Christmas from Days of Lives"
tag airs just after the episode
ends

1994: Alice states that "All the
people who keep Tom Horton in their hearts are Hortons."...The Bradys sing
"Silent Night" at St. Luke's...this episode features
the most unusual Christmas episode ending ever: a shot of a possessed Marlena
floating above her bed

1995: Alice's only Christmas
episode ever missed...The kids in Aremid sing "Away in a Manger"...The 3 verses
of "Silent Night" are beautifully split between the
three groups: The Bradys sing the first verse; the Hortons sing the second
verse; and the kids in Aremid sing the third
verse.

1996: The cast sings "Silent
Night" a capella, with the scene ending on Frances Reid's face...The Bradys sing
"Joy to the World" at St. Luke's, and it blends right
into The Hortons singing "O Come All Ye Faithful", with Alice flashing back to
her memories of Tom from Christmas 1991...The episode
ends on a picture of Tom and Alice from Christmas 1991 and the words "Merry
Christmas Mac, We Still Miss You" appear on the
screen.

1997: A various portion of the
cast sings "Oh Holy Night" at Salem Place in mid-December...The Bradys sing "Joy
to the World."

1998: An instrumental version of
"Silent Night" plays over various scenes of
Salemites.

1999: Chloe sings "Away in a
Manger" and "Silent Night" to awaken Nancy in her hospital bed...The Bradys sing
"Hark the Herald Angel Sing"...As mentioned above, an
ornament for Carrie is seen on the tree (this is the only time someone not
related to a Horton by marriage is seen with an
ornament).

2000: Alice sees Tom's ghost
through the use of flashbacks of Tom being edited into the
show.

2001: A very special
out-of-character episode, the first ever in "Days" history...Airing just several
months after the 9/11 attacks, this episode looks
back over "Days" of Christmas past with many flashbacks being shown, and the
actors (as themselves) speaking directly to the
camera...special 9/11 ornaments are seen on the tree along with the Horton
family ornaments...in the final act, the actors turn
back into their characters and Chloe and Brady are seen singing the full version
of "Silent Night."

2002: "The Christmas Song" is
played during the final act.

2003: The Brady/Chloe "Silent
Night" duet is featured in the final act as various Salemites are
seen.

2004: In a comedic scene,
Bonnie's ornament is so huge it topples the tree...baby Jack Patrick gets his
first ornament (by next year, his ornament has been
changed to Jack Jr. as Patrick was phased out of Jennifer's storyline by
then)...The Bradys sing the first verse of "O
Come All Ye Faithful" at St. Luke's, blending right into the Hortons singing the
next verse at the hospital...the episode ends with
Alice alone and she speaks directly to the camera.

2005: The episode ends with a
repeat of 2004's final scene, where Alice speaks directly to the camera. An
unsual occurence, since Frances Reid did appear in
new scenes during this episode.

2006: Clay Aiken sings
"Everything I Have" as various Salemites are shown. Mickey's absence is
explained with him delivering donations to shelters.
Alice speaks directly to the camera as Clay Aiken's song
ends.

2007:
The ornament hanging is intercut with scenes of Max reading the Christmas story
at the hospital (where Nick is playing an elf)...Jeremy Horton's ornament is
broken...Bill Hayes (Doug) leads a sing-along of "Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas" as other Salemites are shown...the episode ends with Stefano and Rolf
injecting a needle into a mysterious patient (who would turn out to be
John).

2009: Alice and Mickey are said to be in the
kitchen...the ornaments are hung in one brief instrumental scene at Bo &
Hope's House..."Silent Night" is sung at the hospital...As Nathan reads the
Christmas story, Maggie has a flashback of Tom reading the
story.

2010:
At St. Luke's Church, the gang sings "Silent Night"...the episode ends with an
instrumental version of "Silent Night" playing as Julie hangs Alice's ornament
next to Tom's...then, there is a shot of Alice's empty chair and her picture as
the show fades to black.